Archive for real estate leads

But…what happens when the usual lead generation tactics start to dry up?

As a real estate agent, you know the importance of finding ways to constantly be generating new real estate leads for your business. Skip out on the lead gen process, and your business will suffer.

So how can you always stay on top of your lead generation game?

By always innovating, and coming up with new, creative ideas to try – which is why we’ve put together a short list of our three favorite unusual ways to generate real estate leads.

Give some (or all) of them a try today!

Host a Special Home Remodel Giveaway

Hosting giveaways, whether online – via a website or social media – or in person, have always been very effective ways to generate new leads. However, sometimes giveaways actually start to get a little boring from all of the overuse and potential leads start to turn a blind eye to what you’re doing. If this is happening to you, try spicing up your lead generation strategy by hosting a home remodel giveaway. Decide on a set budget limit beforehand (because we all know that home renovations can really add up!), and then have people enter the drawing – with their contact information – to win the home remodeling package. (TIP: If you’re doing the giveaway in person, be sure to have some just listed postcards or flyers and business cards on hand to pass out.) Not only will people get excited about the giveaway, but you’ll likely get some great leads out of the ordeal because if someone gets excited about a home remodel, they might also be interested in selling in the near future!

Drive Real Estate Leads by Creating Valuable Content Online

If you’re in a rut with lead generating and feeling frustrated with the usual methods, take your efforts online in the form of valuable content and opt-in offers. Here’s how it works. First, create a valuable e-book or PDF resource with helpful information for home buyers – perhaps something along the lines of “What Every First Time Homeowner Needs to Know” or “The 10 Mistakes Every Home Buyer Makes and How to Avoid Them.” And it doesn’t have to be a lengthy resource – even just creating something that’s a few pages long would be extremely helpful to potential buyers. Then, after you’ve created your resource, offer it for free on your website as an opt-in offer for people to give you their email address and contact information. They get an awesome free resource, and you get a new lead to call on in the future – win-win for everyone.

Take Advantage of Social Media Advertising

You’ve likely heard of marketing on social media, but have you ever considered paid social media advertising? It may sound strange, but in reality, advertising on a social platform like Facebook can really do wonders for your lead generation funnel. What makes Facebook advertising so great in particular is the ability you have to veryspecifically target audiences that would be highly interested in what you have to say. For example, instead of just putting out an ad for real estate services for all to see, you can tell Facebook to only show your ad to people in a certain area or neighborhood who are within a certain age range, or in a particular zip code with particular jobs or hobbies. This ensures that your ad is seen by the right people – and since you only pay when someone clicks on your ad, you’re going to have a much better return on your investment through Facebook ads than through any other form of online advertising.

These ideas are really just the tip of the iceberg – start brainstorming creative new ideas now, and you’ll be generating new real estate leads in no time at all!

Realtors often pay for leads in one way or another. Many Realtors® buy leads directly from a source that promises a certain number per month. The problem is that you can spend a lot of money without getting good-quality leads. In general, it pays to generate leads organically.

Why Not Pay for Leads?

Paying for leads seems lucrative. You fork over some cash, and someone else sends you qualified, interested leads. One or two per month works out as a sale, and you more than recoup your investment. What’s wrong with that?

What’s wrong is that that’s not really what happens. Here’s what really happens: you support someone else’s business model. You’re wholly dependent on them for your success. The leads may or may not be quality, or even from the promised area. Even more important, you’re probably not the only Realtor® getting that lead. You better be quick or you’ll lose out.

If something happens – the source dries up, the source owners are unethical, or the price rises beyond your budget – you’re stuck. You have no sustainable model of your own. And if you want to be a successful Realtor®, having your own sustainable lead generation is essential.

What to Do Instead

So if you’re not paying for leads, what do you do? The bottom line: Invest in your own business. Many Realtors® are willing to pay thousands per month for leads, but then hesitate to spend even $500 setting up a quality website. Why? You’re willing to spend and support someone else’s business but not your own?

Think of it this way: the minute you stop paying for leads, you get 0. But if you spend the money building up your own lead system, you’ll get return on that forever into the future. Your great website will still be great six months after you pay for it. Your neighborhood farming will still pay dividends years after you start. Your automated email program will contact leads day in and day out, with no additional investment.

As a Realtor®, think about the long-term picture. You want to develop a system that will be paying dividends for years, not one where you have to constantly pay thousands to keep it going. When you develop your own website, email, and farming campaigns, you’ll get those rewards.

I’ve seen too many Realtors® asking each other for advice on various paid lead sources. I want to say, loud and clear: IT’S NOT WORTH IT. They almost never deliver what they claim. Even if the lead source works out, you’ll be dependent on them and if they raise their price or fold, you’ll be left without any leads to sustain your business. Spend the money on yourself and YOUR business! You’re worth it!

Realtors® need leads to survive. So why would I say that you don’t need more leads? Aren’t Realtors® always in need of more leads?

In a word, no. Very simply, what Realtors® really need is to be more effective with the leads you already have.

Did you know that 70% of leads are never followed up on? True story – I was meeting with a new Realtor® in my area over lunch. We were discussing the lead generation tactics in his agency, and he mentioned that one Realtor® had a drawing as part of an open house. To enter the drawing, visitors had to fill out their name, address, and phone number. I asked my friend what the other Realtor® had done with all those new leads he now had. My friend looked shy and said, “Well, he realizes that follow-up is his weak point.”

WHAT????

The Realtor® had gone to all that trouble to get information on dozens of visitors to his open house, and hadn’t done anything with the leads. NOTHING. And these were people looking to buy a home!

So that’s what I mean when I say you don’t need more leads. Chances are you have more leads than you are following up on. Until you’re effective in following up on what you have, you certainly don’t need more.

Lest I sound all “high and mighty”, let me tell you that I was just the same way. I was losing major sales because I simply couldn’t follow up on the leads I had. 70% of my leads were slipping through my hands, and I constantly had to generate more in order to survive. But not anymore. I’ve discovered how to capitalize on 100% – yes, 100% – of my leads. And you can too. Without breaking the bank.

I’ll share more on Thursday about the system I use to follow up automatically on my leads. It involves a very well-designed email automation program that saves me hours while earning me a lot of money. Until then, ask yourself the question I found myself asking several years ago – do you really need more leads? Or do you need to find a way to be more effective with the leads you have?

Where do you find yourself with leads? Do you have great follow up? Share in the comments!

The part of weddings where they ask if there are any objections always makes me nervous. I guess I’ve seen too many romantic comedies or something, because I half-expect there to be an outburst, a revelation of cheating, or some other drama. Of course, in real-life weddings, there almost never is.

Today, though, it’s not about a wedding – it’s about YOU! Here at the Real Estate Marketing Magazine we want to know what struggles YOU have with real estate marketing. Here are some questions we have:

What Holds You Back From Your Best Success? No one comes into real estate looking to do poorly. However, most of us don’t achieve the success we dream of. What’s holding you back?

What’s the Hardest Part of Real Estate Marketing? We know there are dozens of strategies, from farming to choosing whether to focus on buyers or sellers. Even with all these options, we still see Realtors® struggle with marketing. What’s the hardest part for you and the other Realtors® you know?

What Do You Enjoy Most About Real Estate? Why are you a real estate agent? What do you love about it? What makes you excited to get out of bed and get to work each morning? Share with us what you love most about your work!

What Do You Hate About Real Estate? No line of work is all rainbows – what do you like least? What is your biggest struggle? What makes you want to hide under the covers on a Monday?

What’s The Hardest Part of Getting Leads? Every Realtor® knows that leads are how you last in real estate. What’s the hardest part of getting them? What strategies do you need help with? Or do you just need a new strategy altogether?

What Resources Are Missing? Is there one type of information or template that you wish you could find, but you can’t? Or perhaps the options are too expensive? What resources would be most helpful to you and other agents you know?

We at the Real Estate Marketing Magazine and Printerbees want to help. We’re planning on launching a website very soon that will provide resources and hopefully help you answer some of the tough questions of being a Realtor®. However, we can’t create great content without knowing your needs – so let us know! We want to hear from YOU!

You can comment below, visit us on Facebook, or send us an email. No matter how you choose to reach out, we appreciate your feedback. We want your real estate business to be as successful as you ever dreamed it could be!

I have five children, two of which are still in elementary school. We were discussing the importance of good schools and good education over dinner last night and they were shocked to learn that where we choose to live is 100% dependent on the quality of the schools. I wouldn’t be nearly as particular about where I live if I didn’t have kids in school.

About nine months ago my family moved from CA to AZ to escape the rat-race of living in the Bay Area. As I searched for a new home, in a new state, where I knew no-one, it was extremely difficult to figure out and navigate the schools and their ratings. As you know, Realtors are never at liberty to “steer” clients in one direction or another, making it even more difficult to get straight answers. Realtors have to remain unbiased, be politically correct and be so careful of saying the wrong thing or having something that was said misinterpreted.

While you can’t “steer” your clients in one direction over another, you can provide information available to the public for download on your site, because you know where to find it. The rating system for schools in CA is different than AZ, the testing system is completely different, I was confused, and couldn’t get any clear or direct answers. I checked so many different websites and didn’t find what I was looking for. I would have HAPPILY given up my email address and contact information to a local Realtor who had the information available on their website, making me a HIGHLY QUALIFIED lead. I need a home, I’m researching schools, I’m researching neighborhoods, and I need help!

Offering something very specific, that only someone who is a qualified lead would want will increase your lead conversion rate. You won’t see as many leads, but the ones you do get will be good quality. No one needs crummy leads, they just waste valuable time and resources.

If it can be avoided, never refer a website visitor (that could be a qualified lead) to another website to download information. You have an opportunity to provide a free service, with public information and collect a potential lead. Download the information yourself, create a PDF and repackage it in an email introducing yourself and your services as an expert in the area.

The only thing you’ll need to make sure you have on your website is a “request for information form”. You’ll need a way to collect that email address and contact information and a way to deliver the requested information. I will save that for a different post on having an effective website presence, a website without a registration form of some kind is a waste.

Let me know if you have questions, I can give you many examples of how to put public information to work in your business.